(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to the field of interactive flight entertainment systems, more specifically, the method and apparatus of the present invention is related to providing audio menuing for the visually impaired passengers, closed captioning for the hearing impaired passengers and a user friendly passenger interface for an interactive flight entertainment system.
(2) Related Art
In the past few years, there have been an increase in the number of commercial aircrafts providing in-flight entertainment for its passengers. A typical in-flight entertainment system provides some type of a passenger input device accepting inputs from a passenger and some type of a passenger output device such as a display device and a headset for outputting information to a passenger. The display device may output visual information including some type of a graphically displayed menu allowing a passenger to select from a number of options including movies, music and in-flight shopping options. Providing passengers with a user friendly user interface is one aspect of providing a good in-flight entertainment system.
Presently, video on demand in-flight entertainment systems are being developed by various companies.
One such in-flight entertainment has been developed by Interactive Flight Technologies, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nev. This system is advertised to allow a passenger to choose from among thirty feature films, gambling, on board shopping, video games and a graphical depiction of the route of the current flight and the airplane's current position along that route. A 9.5 inch video touch screen is provided as a user interface for each passenger unit.
Another in-flight entertainment system has been developed by B/E Aerospace, Inc. of Irvine, Calif. This system is advertised to provide a passenger with over five hundred channels for regular video programming including movies as well as live broadcast television and a variety of interactive features including video games. A user interface provided for this system is a traditional hand held unit providing various input buttons.
The existing in-flight entertainment systems ignore passengers with special needs. Currently, individuals who are visually impaired are unable to initiate and use an in-flight entertainment system without the help of a flight attendant or a fellow passenger. Further, although a hearing impaired passenger may initiate activities on an in-flight entertainment system using the visual cues displayed on a display device of the system, the hearing impaired passenger is not able to understand the audio information from the system.
It is therefore desirable to provide a user friendly passenger interface, more specifically, it is desirable to provide a method and an apparatus for audio menuing capabilities for the visually impaired and closed captioning capabilities for the hearing impaired passengers using an in-flight entertainment system. Additionally, the menu selection is currently typically made by a passenger through some type of a hand-held input device. An alternative method of input which is more efficient and user friendly, especially for the visually impaired and the hearing impaired passengers, is also desirable.